Easy Potatoes

Mom made these for me on, I think, Wednesday night. They were the best things ever. I used to hate potatoes because they were bland, but Mom has a way of working magic in the kitchen, don't even ask me how she does it. If you asked me right now, I'd have to say I have no idea except for a few vague things because I didn't watch her make these potatoes, but I recreated them (or something similar...it might have just been a replica) and I think I did a lot better than I thought I would, but either way here they are in all their glory.

Ingredients

• potatoes (as many as you think you can eat)
• cheese
• sour cream
• green onions
• salt

Directions

1. poke lots of holes in the potatoes, wrap them in damp paper towels, stick them in a potato baker thing (you know those things). If you don't have one (or time), just stick them in the microwave. This worked for my dad who started making them and apparently worked for Mom, who finished the job (lucky for me, probably, because Dad's the only one I know who can burn water -- and I'm only mostly joking and I love Dad to pieces so I don't care what he does to my food). Microwave for 2 minutes.
2. take them out, slice in half from top to bottom, but slice them along the longest side. I don't really know how to make myself clear, but cut it in half. Fish out all the insides, put them in a bowl for later. Scrape like you would scrape burned toast. Get everything out like cleaning a deer -- you don't want to leave anything in that might make it not-so-great later. 
3. now stick just the "shells", potato skins, in the oven, turn on the broiler (on "HI"), and leave them there. Go back to your bowl full of potato guts.
4. get the sour cream, cheese, onions, and salt. Put in the sour cream until it's creamy and looks like mashed potatoes. Throw in some cheese, mix up, then chop up a couple green onions, throw them in too, and mix up some salt. Taste it and see if it agrees with your taste buds. Adjust as needed.
5. pull out the skins, put in the "filling" -- whatever you call that. Sprinkle lots and lots of cheese on the top, and try to avoid getting any on the pan (unless you've lined it with foil) because it will be a major pain to clean that pan off, trust me!
6. stick back in the oven until cheese is melted and potatoes have that great look where it's browned on the tips of the potato...mmYUM!
7. take out, eat!
8. and enjoy ;)

have a great...winter! Only 12 days until Thanksgiving and 43 until Christmas!

Aussie Bites Recipe Comparison

Recently I've been yearning for Aussie Bites from Costco.

They've got a de-lish recipe that I absolutely adore!

So, to quench my "thirst", I went online to find a suitable recipe, one that was just as good as Costco's, but easy to make at the same time. Also, not such a hassle. We don't live too close to Costco, so going there just for the Aussie Bites seems a little extreme. So I also wanted one that was easy so that I could just make Aussie Bites -- no big! -- at home.

I found and tried both the Aussie Bites from Bad Girl's Kitchen and the Aussie Bites from Stay-at-Home Chef.

Note: I put some words in boldface so that you could skim and just read the words in boldface and not the extra, fluffy words. If it's hard to read with some words in boldface, please tell me for future reference! Thank you!

First, the Aussies from Bad Girl's Kitchen.

Taste: these didn't taste the same as Costco's, and they were drier.

Look: they didn't look very much like Costco's, but they looked like Aussies! They also had the same size and shape, being cooked in a mini muffin pan, just like Stay-at-Home Chef's and Costco's.

Pros: they tasted really good. The coconut was a bit strong, but once you got eating, like really eating, you didn't really notice that much. I really really liked them. I have to say, I think I liked them more than the ones from SHC (Stay-at-Home Chef). But I'm not sure. I also liked the fruit taste. It was very there.

Cons: they were dry, and the Costco ones stick together more -- they're not sticky, but they stick together. These, when I ate them, I found that I was automatically holding my hand under them as I ate them. That wasn't a great feeling, but they stuck together pretty well. Also, they had bigger chunks of fruit and oats, and Costco's don't. They also had a stong coconut taste in them that I didn't like at the beginning. At the beginning of eating one, I mean. At the end I had a craving for another one which isn't bad in itself, but it's horrible when you want them to last as long as they can! They also don't have the same things as Costco's do.

Now onto the Aussies from The Stay-at-Home Chef.

Taste: they did taste pretty much like Costco's, and I found them to be a bit wetter than Costco's, but not that much.

Look: they did look a lot like Costco's, with more seeds and less fruit showing, and in the size and shape.

Pros: they looked like Costco's, they felt like Costco's, they tasted a little bit like Costco's. Overall, they were pretty similar to Costco's. They were also really good, but I'm not sure if I like them better than BGK's (Bad Girl's Kitchen) or not. The ingredients were very similar to Costco's.

Cons: they were a bit wet, wetter than Costco's, but they stuck together really well. The seed flavor and quinoa flavor was a bit strong, but like the coconut in the BGK ones, you didn't notice it after just a little while.

Which do I like better?

I have to say, the SHC Aussies were very close to Costco's, both in taste, texture, appearance, and ingredients, unlike BGK Aussies which had things that Costco's don't have.

They both had some strong flavors, the BGK ones being mainly coconut and SHC's being quinoa, but SHC's was less apparent than BGK's, which was really nice.

Overall, I think SHC's was more accurate, but they were both just as tasty.

If I had to choose between which one to make, I would probably go with BGK's because they tasted delicious, even if they weren't like Costco's (which they were - to a certain extent).

Which one was easier? I think they were both the same level of simplicity. I'd have to make them again to make sure.

Everyday Spaghetti

I use any kind of pasta, it doesn't have to be spaghetti, but "Everyday Spaghetti" sounds better than "Everyday Pasta", right? Here's how you make it.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. spaghetti or pasta (I get mine from Meijer or Kroger...it doesn't matter)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (Kirkland brand)
• 1 lb. sausage (Italian, Kirkland brand)
• 1/2 Tbs. Italian Seasoning (Kirkland brand)
• 1 Tbs. salt
• Optional ingredient: 1 can tomato sauce

Directions

1.  Fill pot halfway with water (mine's probably a foot or maybe two feet deep). A couple cupfuls of water. It depends. Just guess, it won't really matter. Just enough to cook a full package of pasta/spaghetti without the pasta getting hard.
2. Add salt, cover pot with lid.
3. Get out your pan. It can be a skillet, I think. I've never tried skillet, though.
4. Put the sausage in, cut the sausage up into bite-size pieces. I just use a big serving spoon to cut it up, nothing special.
5. Turn on the heat (it doesn't matter if you turn it on before or after you put in the sausage) to 5, if you're using a stove with actual fire, not just a heated surface. If you're using a heated surface, I'm not sure if it's the same. If it is, great, if it's not, I can't help you. Sorry.
6. Brown the sausage. I like mine a little bit more browned than just turning the sausage into a gray-ish color that it always turns when it's cooked. I like it to have brown around the edges, like the brown you see on caramelized onions (mmm, love those).
7. Once the sausage is browned, add the diced tomatoes and some Italian Seasoning. Me, I don't measure, I just sprinkle it over the whole thing and wait until everything in the pan is pretty much covered with it. Not a ton, but lightly covering, like a sprinkling of snow when you want it to be a foot of snow.
   If you're going to add the tomato sauce, add it now.
8. Cover the pan and wait for the water in the deep pot to boil
9. Once the water in the deep pot is boiling, pour in the package of pasta. How to tell if the water is boiling: steam should be coming out around the lid.
10. Set the timer according to the pasta box.
11. Once the time is up, strain the pasta.
12. Put the pasta in the sausage-and-tomato mixture (yick, sounds gross).
13. Stir and

(Additional ingredient: If you like your pasta wetter and more tomato-y, add a can of tomato sauce.)

Zambian Dish: Thick Stew

Ever tried Zambian foods? Here's one you can try!
Here's the recipe:

Thick Stew*
1 table spoon of oil
2 cups of black eyed peas
1 onion finely chopped
1 table spoon of tomato past
1 can of tomatoes, chopped
2 cups of soup stock
Salt and pepper
 
Heat oil in pan. and saute an onion. Meanwhile, partially mash beans with a fork or a potato masher. Add tomato paste, stock, mashed beans, and add salt and pepper to the onion. Stir well. Let simmer for 30 minutes before serving. (Chips with this may be good) Hope you'll enjoy it!

My friend tried it and said it was really good, so I have high hopes for this one!

--
*I don't actually know if it would be considered a stew, and it sounds pretty thick, so that's just my name for it. I don't actually know what it's called, in English or in Bemba.